Trump Officials Accused of Disobeying Court in Food Aid Fight

Nonprofits and cities are asking a judge to compel the Trump administration to fully cover food aid benefits for low income households this month, after US officials announced they would make only 50% of the funds available.

The US Department of Agriculture suspended the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, during the government shutdown that began on Oct. 1. A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled the suspension is likely unlawful and ordered the administration to resume funding.

In a filing on Tuesday, the liberal-leaning cities and nonprofits accused the Agriculture Department of failing to comply with US District Chief Judge John McConnell’s order in recent days.

Read More: Trump Administration Says Food Aid Will Be Partially Funded

They contend the administration is dragging its feet in making even partial funding available, and that officials made the “arbitrary and capricious” decision to not draw on all available federal sources to cover the costs.

McConnell asked the government to respond by Wednesday evening and set a hearing for Thursday.

More than 42 million Americans in roughly 22 million households participate in SNAP each month, according to government data. It would take between $8 billion to $9 billion to cover the benefits for November.

McConnell ordered the administration, at a minimum, to use a SNAP contingency fund to partially pay for the program this month. The government said there is $4.65 billion in that reserve. The judge also wrote that the Agriculture Department “should, within its discretion, find the additional funds necessary” to make up the rest.

That discretion is the source of the latest dispute. In a report to McConnell yesterday, an Agriculture Department official said the government “carefully considered” using alternative sources — chiefly, a child nutrition program fund that pulls from US customs proceeds — and decided against it.

The department official wrote that using the fund could leave other critical programs at a deficit, which would go against Congress’ goal in setting that money aside.

McConnell ordered the government to make the funds available starting this week, but the official said it could take weeks or even months for benefits to become available, depending on how long it took states to recalculate payments.

In Tuesday’s filing, the challengers argued that the government failed to follow McConnell’s directive to “expeditiously” resolve “administrative or clerical burdens” to making even the partial payment.

‘Hunger’

Besides the “devastating delay,” the nonprofits and municipal governments argued that the administration presented a “far-fetched concern about theoretical harms” to child nutrition programs to justify its refusal to tap into the customs fund.

“Time is of the essence when it comes to hunger,” they wrote.

In response to a request for comment Tuesday, a department spokesperson shared an online post from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Monday that blamed Democrats for the government shutdown and said the department had sent new guidance to states for the SNAP program. She wrote that the “cumbersome process” would mean “delayed benefits for weeks.”

The case is Rhode Island State Council of Churches v. Rollins, 25-cv-569, US District Court, District of Rhode Island (Providence).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Zoe Tillman in Washington at ztillman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Anthony Aarons

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